King Jagiello of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Grand Duke of Lithuania, united Lithuania and Poland, became king after marrying Jadwiga, the Queen of Poland, in 1386. The Monument depicts the momentum at the Battle of Grunwald in 1410 when the King crossed over his head the two swords as a symbol of defiance and of the union of Polish–Lithuanian forces. Known as the Grunwald Swords, they were the invitation to battle offered to the king in an ironic gesture by his adversary Ulrich von Jungingen, Grand Master of the Teutonic Order of Cross. The sound of crossed swords gave the signal for the battle.